The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street by Charles Nicholl

The infuriating fact about our greatest author is that there are precious few facts available about his life. Charles Nicholl has fastened upon one of these, a minor court case involving an unpaid dowry at which Shakespeare gave evidence in 1612. From a few lines inscribed in his own hand, Nicholl draws out a portrait of the man and the milieu in which he moved, giving us a glimpse of the ordinary human being who had the extraordinary ability to turn a humdrum dowry dispute into King Lear..

Synopsis by Foyles.co.uk

In 1612, Shakespeare gave evidence at the Court of Requests in Westminster - it is the only occasion his spoken words are recorded. The case seems routine - a dispute over an unpaid marriage-dowry - but it opens up an unexpected window into the dramatist's famously obscure life-story. Charles Nicholl applies a powerful biographical magnifying glass to this fascinating episode in Shakespeare's life. Marshalling evidence from a wide variety of sources, including previously unknown documentary material on the Mountjoys, he conjures up a detailed and compelling description of the circumstances in which Shakespeare lived and worked, and in which he wrote such plays as "Othello", "Measure for Measure" and "King Lear".